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MARIPOSA  BIG  TREES 

(Copyright  applied  for  by  B.   M.  Lcitcli) 

!^§^^HIS  group  is  included  in  a  tract  of  land  that  was 
granted  to  the  state  of  California  by  the  United  States 
in  1864,  and  accepted  by  the  State  Legislature  in 
^^  1866.  The  grant  contains  2,589.26  acres.  The  name 
F^  given  to  the  Grove  is  due  to  the  latter's  position  in 
Mariposa  county.  Ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  State  in  1905. 
The  several  groups  that  make  this  grove  number  627  individual  trees. 
When  the  species  was  discovered,  botanists  contended  over  the 
name,  but  finally  adopted  Sequoia  Gigantea  for  these  trees.  For 
their  smaller  and  more  numerous  cousins,  the  redwood  of  commerce, 
the  name  Sequoia  Sempervirens  was  given. 

George  Geuss  was  the  Cadmus  of  the  Cherokees;  he  invented  the 
alphabet  which  made  the  Cherokee  a  written  language  and  gave  it  a 
literature.  His  Indian  name  was  Secjuoia,  and  this  was  chosen  by 
the  botanists  and  dendrologists  for  these  big  trees. 

This  grove  is  no  less  a  wonder  than  the  Yosemite.  Indeed  to 
many  the  trees  arc  more  wonderful  than  the  valley,  because  they  live. 


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Each  spring  the  sap  has  risen  in  their  mighty  columns,  and  they 
represent  a  continuous  vegetable  life  that  began  on  the  farther  side 
of  human  history. 

Galen  Clark,  the  discoverer  of  the  Mariposa  Grove,  says  that  when 
he  first  saw  the  big  trees  in  April,  1857,  they  were  not  burned  much; 
that  a  forest  fire  raged  through  this  section  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas 
in  the  summer  of  1864,  and  that  is  the  reason  that  the  trees  are  so 
badly  scarred  by  fire.  The  Sequoias  of  this  group  are  really  divided 
into  two  groves,  the  upper  and  the  lower,  from  their  respective  sit- 
uations on  the  mountain  side  whereon  they  grow. 


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LOWER  GROVE 


ii^;HERE  are  259  Sequoias  in  the  Lower  Grove. 
^M&  first  trees  at  the  entrance  of  the  grove  are  called  the 


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Sentinels.  There  arc  four  trees,  two  on  each  side  of 
the  road.  On  the  left  the  two  trees  arc,  number  one, 
J^^'^  circumference  94  feet,  height  263  feet;  number  two, 
circumference  79  feet,  height  258  feet.  Number  three,  circumference 
49  feet,  height  247  feet.  Number  four,  circumference  66  feet,  height 
251  feet. 

This  road  branches  into  three  roads,  but  before  reaching  the  forks 
of  the  three  roads  there  is  a  tree  called  the  Sergeant  of  the  Guard, 
circumference  45  feet,  height  230  feet. 

On  the  middle  road  there  are  about  75  trees.  The  average  height 
and  circumference  are  45  feet  in  circumference  and  235  feet  high. 

On  the  middle  road  there  is  a  tree  called  Princeton,  named  for 
Princeton  University  in  New  Jersey,  circumference  55  feet,  height  240 
feet. 

On  the  left  hand  side  of  this  road  there  are  three  beautiful  trees 
called  the  Three  Graces. 

On  the  right  stands  a  tree  called  the  Bachelor.  The  Three  Graces 
are,  first  56  feet  in  circumference,  second  51  feet,  and  third  54  feet. 


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The  Bachelor  is  69  feet  in  circumference.  The  lieight  of  these  trees 
is  240  feet. 

On  the  right  hand  road  there  are  ten  trees  called  tlie  Cathech-al 
Group,  average  circumference  40  feet,  height  240  feet. 

On  this  road  is  the  Fallen  Monarch,  nearly  300  feet  in  length,  and 
26  feet  in  diameter.  This  is  the  tree  on  which  "F"  Troop,  6th 
United  States  Cavalry,  were  photographed,  and  a  si.x  horse  stage  was 
also  photographed  on  this  tree. 

Above  the  Fallen  Monarch  is  a  tree  called  Sacramento,  circum- 
ference 66  feet,  height  235  feet. 

On  the  turn  above  Sacramento  is  a  tree  called  the  Corridor,  72 
feet  in  circumference  and  height  240  feet.  This  tree  is  very  much 
burned. 

On  the  road  towards  the  Grizzly  Giant  is  a  large  fallen  tree  called 
the  Emperor  Norton.  There  is  a  grove  of  small  Setjuoias  near  this 
tree. 

The  largest  Sequoia  in  the  Lower  Grove  stands  immediately  by 
the  road.  It  is  called  the  Grizzly  Giant.  Its  time-worn  and  rugged 
appearance  is  in  keeping  with  its  name.  It  has  several  very  large 
limbs,  one  of  which  is  100  feet  from  the  ground,  and  20^  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. It  is  104  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base  and  224  feet 
in  height.  It  is  estimated  that  this  tree  is  about  8,000  years  old  and 
contains  1,000,000  feet  of  lumber. 

Below  the  Grizzly  Giant,  on  a  branch  road,  there  is  a  tree  called 


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California,  diameter  21  feet,  height  248  feet.  Stages  pass  through 
this  tree  by  means  of  a  tunnel. 

About  one-quarter  of  a  mile  above  the  Grizzly  Giant  on  the  right, 
well  up  on  the  hill,  stands  the  Forest  King,  circumference  55  feet, 
height  238  feet.  On  this  road  on  the  left  there  is  a  tree  that  has  the 
most  perfect  top  of  any  tree  in  the  Grove.  It  is  called  Alabama. 
Circumference  62  feet,  height  238  feet. 

The  next  is  the  Faithful  Couple,  circumference  97  feet,  height  260 
feet.  There  is  no  doubt  but  there  are  two  trees  grown  together. 
This  tree  was  named  by  Jessie  Benton  Fremont  in  1859. 

On  the  right  the  next  tree  is  called  Pennsylvania,  circumference 
55  feet,  height  230  feet. 

On  the  left  is  New  Jersey,  circumference  68  feet,  height  240  feet. 

Above  New  Jersey  is  Michigan,  circumference  60  feet,  height  235 
feet.    On  the  right  is  Kate  Field. 

On  the  left  hand  road  there  is  a  tree  called  Texas,  circumference 
63  feet,  height  250  feet.  There  are  very  few  Sequoias  on  the  left 
hand  road. 

On  this  road  there  is  a  tree  called  Grover  Cleveland,  circumference 
61  feet,  height  240  feet.  Under  this  tree  there  are  estimated  to  be 
5,000  seedling  Sequoias. 

Farther  up  this  road  there  are  two  trees  known  as  the  "Western 
Sentinels,  circumference  45  feet,  height  240  feet. 


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i^^^HERE  arc  368  Sequoias  in  the  Upper  Grove. 
S^  entrance  stands  the   Mariposa,    100  feet   in 


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in  either  grove.     It  was  named   for  the 


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!!53S^«^^  Mariposa.  Washburn,  circumference  52  feet,  height 
247  feet.  This  tree  was  named  for  Albert  Henry  Washburn,  the 
pioneer  stage-man  who  took  the  first  tourists  to  Yosemite  Valley  and 
the  Mariposa  Big  Trees  in  1866.  On  the  left  hand  road  leading  from 
the  entrance  there  are  38  Sequoias,  largest  circumference  103  feet, 
height  240  feet.  Sunset,  circumference  63  feet,  height  235  feet.  On 
the  main  road  we  see  the  San  Francisco,  circumference  69  feet,  height 
240  feet. 

.    San  Diego,  circumference  63  feet,  height  235  feet. 
Iowa,  circumference  71  feet,  height  250  feet. 
West  Virginia,  circumference  82  feet,  height  240  feet. 
Brooklyn,  circumference  75  feet,  height  238  feet. 
Governor,  circumference  90  feet,  height  240  feet. 
Arkansas,  circumference  92  feet,  height  282  feet. 
Commissioners,  average  circumference  32  feet,  height  240  feet. 
Missouri,  circumference  102  feet,  height  274  feet. 
Haverford,  circumference  120  feet,  height  280  feet. 
This  tree  is  hollow  at  the  base.     Seventeen  people  on  horseback 
have  been  sheltered  in  this  tree. 


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Connecticut,  circumference  68  feet,  lieight  248  feet. 

St.  Louis,  circumference  92  feet,  height  204  feet. 

Andrew  Johnson,  diameter  18  feet,  length  337  feet.     This  tree  fell 
in  1870. 

Philadelphia,  circumference  90  feet,  height  262  feet. 

Ohio,  circumference  63  feet,  height  280  feet. 

Lafayette,  circumference  95  feet,  height  270  feet. 

Old  Guard,  four  trees,  average  circumference  40  feet,  height  260  feet. 

Rhode  Island,  circumference  37  feet,  height  253  feet. 
-    Fresno,  circumference  66  feet,  height  315  feet. 

Columbia,  circumference  87  feet,  height  323  feet. 

General  Grant,  circumference  67  feet,  height  268  feet. 

General  Sherman,  circumference  67  feet,  height  266  feet. 

General  Sheridan,  circumference  78  feet,  height  275  feet. 

Delaware,  circumference  48  feet,  height  245  feet. 

Samoset,  named  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  May,  1871; 
ference  56  feet,  height  240  feet. 

New  Hampshire,  circumference  50  feet,  height  250  feet. 

North  Carolina,  circumference  63  feet,  height  245  feet. 

Florida,  circumference  61  feet,  height  243  feet. 

Maryland,  circumference  66  feet,  height  248  feet. 

Colorado,  circumference  54  feet,  height  258  feet. 

Oregon,  circumference  48  feet,  height  250  feet. 

Francis  Scott  Key,  circumference  51  feet,  height  258  feet. 

Utah,  circumference  72  feet,  height  230  feet. 

Montana,  circumference  52  feet,  height  248  feet. 

Indiana,  circumference  57  feet,  height  238  feet. 

Nevada,  circumference  49  feet,  height  248  feet. 

Kentucky,  circumference  55  feet,  height  257  feet. 


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Pasadena,  circumference  55  feet,  height  242  feet. 

Governor  Tod,  circumference  56  feet,  height  240  feet. 

General  Logan,  circumference  81  feet,  height  235  feet. 

Minnesota,  circumference  75  feet,  height  242  feet. 

Washington,  circumference  loi  feet,  height  245  feet. 

McKinley,  circumference  84  feet,  height  263  feet. 

Los  Angeles,  circumference  62  feet,  height  230  feet. 

Lincoln,  circumference  77  feet,  height  236  feet. 

John  Hay,  circumference  59  feet,  height  234  feet. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  circumference  90  feet,  height  260  feet. 

Dewey,  circumference  76  feet,  height  252  feet. 

West  Point,  circumference  84  feet,  height  245  feet. 

Wigwam,  circumference  81  feet,  height  238  feet. 

William  Penn,  circumference  81  feet,  height  248  feet. 

Chester  A.  Arthur,  circumference  84  feet,  height  248  feet. 

Harvard,  circumference  82  feet,  height  230  feet. 

James  A.  Garfield,  circumference  92  feet,  height  233  feet. 

Forest  Giant,  34  feet  in  diameter.  This  one  was  four  months 
burning  in  1864,  and  was  no  doubt  the  largest  Sequoia  in  the  Grove. 

Pittsburg,  Pa.,  circumference  62  feet,  height  24S  feet. 

New  York,  circumference  57  feet,  height  252  feet. 

Virginia,  circumference  89  feet,  height  192  feet. 

Wawona,  circumference  85  feet,  height  260  feet.  Stages  and  other 
conveyances  pass  through  this  tree  by  means  of  a  tunnel. 

Plonolulu,  circumference  42  feet,  height  230  feet. 

Chicago,  circumference  59  feet,  height  238  feet. 

Boston,  circumference  60  feet,  height  250  feet. 

Hamilton,  circumference  85  feet,  height  241  feet. 

Stanford  University,  circumference  76  feet,  height  254  feet. 


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University  of  California,  circumference  69  feet,  height  253  feet. 

Longfellow,  circumference  60  feet,  height  242  feet. 

Whittier,  circumference  72  feet,  height  238  feet. 

Yale,  circumference  87  feet,  height  270  feet. 

Stonewall  Jackson,  circumference  51  feet,  height  241  feet. 

R.  E.  Lee,  circumference  49  feet,  height  239  feet. 

Mississippi,  circumference  50  feet,  height  238  feet. 

Georgia,  circumference  51  feet,  height  241  feet. 

South  Carolina,  circumference  72  feet,  height  243  feet. 

Wade  Hampton,  circumference  67  feet,  height  244  feet. 

Wisconsin,  circumference  65  feet,  height  240  feet. 

Telescope,  circumference  60  feet,  height  190  feet. 

Kansas,  circumference  68  feet,  height  275  feet. 

Illinois,  circumference  70  feet,  height  270  feet. 

Massachusetts,  circumference  93  feet,  height  234  feet. 

Diamond  Group,  four  trees  in  shape  of  a  diamond:  first,  82  feet  in 
circumference;  second,  45  feet  in  circumference;  third,  47  feet  in  cir- 
cumference; fourth,  45  feet  in  circumference;  average  height,  260  feet. 

Maine,  circumference  63  feet,  height  230  feet. 

On  the  trail  from  the  Wawona  tree  to  the  cabin  there  are  about 
70  Sequoias. 

The  first  discovery  of  the  Big  Trees  was  made  in  October,  1849, 
by  Major  Burney,  then  Sheriff  of  Mariposa  county.  He  came  across 
a  few  of  these  trees,  probably  forming  part  of  a  group  in  what  is  now 
Madera  county,  and  known  as  the  Fresno  Grove.  Thereafter,  from 
time  to  time,  persons  exploring  the  mountains  found  grove  after 
grove,  until  it  was  known  that  groups  of  these  trees  were  scattered 


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along  the  western  front  of  the  Sierras  for  a  distance  of  about  200 
miles.  These  forest  giants  have  been  standing  for  from  three  to 
eight  thousand  years;  during  that  time,  by  the  mere  doctrine  of  chance, 
they  must  have  been  exposed  to  forest  fires,  not  once,  but  many  times. 
And  while  the  trees  are  not  absolutely  fireproof,  the  fact  that  they 
have  stood  there  through  ages  shows  that  they  must  be  decidedly  fire 
resistant.  Nearly  every  tree  is  scarred  at  tiie  base  by  fire,  Init  tlic 
tree  still  lives.  The  Secjuoia  has  no  diseases,  never  decays,  cannot  be 
blown  down  and  docs  not  burn  up.  That  is  the  reason  it  outlives 
everything  else  in  existence. 

I  would  advise  parties  visiting  the  Grove  to  take  the  whole  day;  a 
quick  trip  through  the  Grove  docs  not  seem  to  satisfy.  Walk  around 
among  the  trees  for  two  or  three  hours.  From  the  cabin  in  the  Upper 
Grove  you  can  see  over  100  big  trees  that  will  average  25  feet  in 
diameter  and  300  feet  in  lieight.  Take  a  little  time,  for  these  trees 
are  not  to  be  seen  elsewhere  in  the  world.  To  reach  the  Mariposa 
Grove,  see  the  agent  at  Sentinel  Hotel,  Yosemite  Valley,  where  infor- 
mation regarding  the  route  will  be  furnished.  The  best  trip  to  take 
is  via  Glacier  Point  to  Wawona,  returning  by  Inspiration  Point. 

The  cones  are  remarkable  for  their  diminutive  size,  and  the  seeds 
are  short  and  thin  as  paper.  The  seeds  were  first  sent  to  the  Eastern 
States  and  Europe  in  1853.  They  germinate  readily  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  thousands  of  these  Sequoias  are  growing  in  different  parts 
of  the  world  from  seed  planted.  There  are  ten  groups  of  the  Sequoia 
Giganteas  in  California,  to  wit,  Calaveras,  South  Grove,  Tuolumne, 


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Merced,  Mariposa,  Fresno,  Dinkey  Creek,  Kings  River,  New  Kings 
River,  Kaweah  or  Tule. 

Elsevi'here  in  California  these  trees  are  not  known  to  exist.  The 
tree  is  closely  related  to  the  redwood  of  the  Coast  Range.  The  wood 
of  the  Big  Trees,  like  that  of  the  redwood,  is  valuable  for  its  utility. 
When  exposed  to  excessive  moisture  it  is  unsurpassed  for  its  dura- 
bility; it  is  easily  worked  into  any  shape,  is  light,  and  receives  a  high 
polish,  and  some  specimens  are  beautifully  marked.  In  its  natural 
condition  it  is  generally  of  a  pale  red  tint;  the  bark  is  very  thick, 
some  of  it  being  30  inches  through.  It  is  estimated  that  the  Big 
Trees  are  from  3,000  to  8,000  years  old.  The  average  height  of  the 
Sequoias  in  the  Mariposa  Grove  is  250  feet,  the  average  circumference 
60  feet. 

The  magnificent  proportions  of  the  trees  and  the  awful  solitude  of 
the  forest  give  an  almost  sublime  grandeur  to  this  part  of  the  Sierras. 

The  Mariposa  Grove  was  discovered  by  Galen  Clark  in  April,  1857. 
Mr.  Clark  was  for  many  years  Guardian  of  the  Yosemite  Valley  and 
the  Mariposa  Grove  of  Big  Trees. 

ALTITUDE  AT  BIG  TREES 

Sentinel  Trees 5,75o 

Grizzly  Giant 6,200 

Cabin,  Upper  Grove 6,800 

Wawona  Tree 6,920 

Wawona  Point 7,140 


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Designed  by  H.  C.  Tibbitts,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  It  was  borrowed. 


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in '^OIJTHERN  RFr.iONAi  LIBRARY  FAClliI 

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